Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this behind-the-velvet-rope memoir, anonymous blogger Rob the Bouncer (identity to be revealed "on publication") details his adventures working security at "Axis," a dizzying composite of real-life New York nightclubs. Spending grungy nights working the "Nightmare Square" of club-choked West Chelsea, antagonized by feuding bosses and berated by the downgrading clientele, Rob has plenty of material for his misanthropic observations. He spends most nights playing God to a line-up of bankers, club kids and mobsters, ogling his bartender girlfriend and babysitting the VIP room for pocket cash. Rob is a likable, identifiable narrator, an average working guy dreaming of something better, genuinely aggrieved to be trading barbs with women drunk enough to chuck tampons at him. Though structural tics can grate-like his use of second person and too-frequent shifts into screenplay-style dialogue-a handful of sidebars reveal useful tips for getting in: pack a fistful of twenties and never bark, "All my friends are inside!" And, a must-read for anyone with a tendency toward belligerence, instructions on how to leave without getting hurt ("Don?t touch the bouncers on the way out"). Though the tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold routine feels familiar, club-goers will find Rob?s dispatches entertaining and informative. (Aug.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
